Queue here for misery: Post office closures cause Christmas chaos
People are queuing out of the door at post offices across the country following the closure of thousands of branches.
Efforts to get gifts and cards into the Christmas post are being hampered by the long delays in reaching the remaining counters.
Outbreaks of flu among staff are also hitting services.
Snail mail: Frustrating queues at Oxebowe post office in Gloucester yesterday
Further problems are added by Royal Mail’s new charging regime, which is based on the size of an envelope, rather than simply using a first or second class stamp.
Many charity Christmas cards do not conmas-form to Royal Mail standards so people have to queue to be sure they are paying the correct amount.
And there is no fast-track system, so someone with a single card could have to wait behind a customer paybills or applying for a TV licence.
The customer body Consumer Focus says Royal Mail must open more counters at the branches that survived the cull of 2,500 outlets.
Tory MP John Redwood said the situation was evidence of serious failures among highly-paid executives.
The former Cabinet minister, who saw queues in his constituency of Wokingham, said: ‘This is a disgrace.
'Not only is it bad for the community when a post office cannot offer a decent service, it is a lost business opportunity.
‘Lots of promises were made that when small branches closed, the services and number of counters in main post offices would be increased.
'That has just not been delivered. The organisation is mired in bureaucracy. It has no commercial sense and no wish to serve the community properly.’
There have been reports of up to 70 people waiting at Gloucester’s main post office. David Ellis, 78, said: There were only a few people serving and I had to wait for half an hour.’
David Taylor, of Gayles near Richmond, Yorkshire, had to wait 40 minutes to get to the counter at Harrogate post office.
He said: ‘There was a time when I would put a first class stamp on a doubtful package and it would get delivered second class if the stamp value was inadequate. Now I must queue to have my envelope measured, weighed and squeezed through a slit in a plastic board.’
In Worcester, where the post office has been moved into a branch of WH Smith, long queues were blamed on staff shortages.
Customer Tracey Docherty, who was waiting to send a parcel, said: ‘It was really bad. There was a wait of at least half an hour. The queue went right into the shop area and got all tangled up with shoppers.’
Consumer Focus, which replaced Postwatch earlier this year, said: ‘Inevitably, this Christing-will be a test in areas where the effects of post office closures are still settling down.
The spokesman added: ‘Where facilities such as additional counters or staff have been promised, the Post Office must ensure that they are actually in place and working well. They must also
react flexibly and deploy extra staff to areas where problems are occurring.’
A Post Office spokesman insisted efforts were being made to deal with the queues.
He said: ‘Like other retailers at this exceptionally busy time of year we have been deploying hundreds of extra people and putting in more resources to do
‘We directly run around 350 Crown branches and this Christmas we have deployed 400 volunteers from admin offices to serve customers, deployed many hundreds of part-time staff and opened for longer hours in branches in shopping centres and other major retail areas to match late-night shopping by other retailers.
‘We are investing around £ 2million to improve quality of service, including increased capacity to serve customers.’
Earlier this week, a review looking at the future of Royal Mail suggested allowing private companies, including foreign firms, to take a stake.
The part-privatisation plan, backed by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, faces fierce opposition from Labour MPs and post workers.